Link your myGov account to the ATO

By linking your myGov account to the ATO, you can now manage your tax and super affairs whenever it suits you.

In ATO online services you can

  • check the progress of your income tax return as well as
  • download your Notice of Assessment,
  • update your personal details,
  • keep track of your super and
  • arrange to pay a debt.

For details on how to connect MyGov to ATO, visit

ato.gov.au/myGovlinkATO

How to create a myGov account and link to ATO

If you’re an individual or sole trader, you can manage your tax and super online.

To do this, you will need a myGov account linked to the ATO. To get started, you should have the following.

  • A myGov account using SMS,
  • myGovID or
  • the myGov code generator app as your sign in option,
  • your tax file number TFN.

And two of the following.

  • A notice of assessment received in the last five years.
  • A PAYG Payment Summary received in the last two years.
  • A super account statement from the last five years.
  • A dividends statement from the last two years.
  • A Centrelink payment summary from the last two years.
  • Or your bank account details. This must be an account you had your income tax return refund paid into last year or has earned interest in the last two years.

If you don’t have this information available, you will need to phone the ATO and get a unique linking code to complete this process.

Once you have this information ready, visit my.gov.au and sign in to your account.

When signed in, go to the linked services section and select view and link services. In the link a service section, select the link button to the right of Australian Taxation Office.

When you link the ATO, myGov will store your name and date of birth in your profile. If you already have a profile, these details must match, read and agree to the ATO terms and conditions. Provide your details, including your tax file, number, name, date of birth and address.

If your details have changed since you last dealt with the ATO, you will need to phone to update them before you can complete the link. Enter information carefully and accurately so that it will match your details held by the ATO.

You will also need to answer two questions from information contained in documents mentioned earlier. If you receive an error message at any time, take note of the error code and follow the link or instructions for more information. Once you’ve finished answering these questions, you’re done.

You have successfully linked your myGov account to your ATO record and that’s it. You can now manage your tax and super affairs through ATO online.

How to Change Your Name with ATO

Name Change

Having your full name correct with Governement agencies has never been more important.

In light of recent data breaches at large companies, like Optus and Medibank Private, ATO have increased their security around ANY changes to cleint names.

Tax Agents can no longer assist in the name change process – this is to ensure the actual person is changing their own name. Cases have surfaced of Tax Agents being instructed to change names by other family members or business associates without the actual person being aware. Driven by identity theft of fraud.

How Do You Change Your Name With ATO then?

You will need to gather some basic infortmation to allow the change to happen:

  1. Your full name
  2. Your Date of Birth
  3. Your current home address
  4. Your Tax File Number (TFN)
  5. Your last tax refund or payable amount – should you not have that they will ask other questions realting to your tax return. Your employment income etc.
  6. Your MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE, CHANGE OF NAME CERTIFICATE or DIVORCE ORDER as evidence. This must be the actual marriage certificate. Not the ceremonial one. See below.

Once you have this info follow these steps:

  1. CALL ATO on 13 28 61 Click to call and select Option 1.
  2. Have your most recent Notice of Assessment from ATO handy.
  3. ATO will need the Registration Number from the top right corner of your marriage certificate
  4. If ATO already have your mobile number on file they can send you a 6 digit code as a 2 factor authentication

Other Name Change Reasons

You may have other issues with your name at ATO such as:

  1. Missing middle name
  2. Mispelt name
  3. Short name vs full name – eg Ben vs Benjamin
  4. Australianised name vs your birth name. Frank with ATO but Fotios on birth certificate.
  5. Changing your name by choice

Why Does All This Matter?

As ATO and other Government agencies digitise and consolidate their databases they have multiple instances of each person across their different systems. Some of these have incorrect data such as names. MyGov and MyGovID are being used to centralise the identity of the human interacting with Gov to give both you and the Gov certainty that only you can access and change your own data.

Changing your name is hard because it should be hard. Having tight portocols around name changes makes it hard for fraud and identity theft to happen in the first place. This is a good thing.

Protect your private information as the experience of having your identity compromised or stolen is very traumatic and time consuming to correct. In some cases it can’t be entirely corrected.

biz finance

Business tips: Finding Finance That Suits YOU

biz finance

Do you need extra funding to take the next step in your business strategy? We’ll help you review lenders and finance products – so you can find the best finance option for your business. #businessadvice

Every business needs finance to get the initial enterprise off the ground. You may well have entered into finance arrangements to fund the initial stages of the business, taking out loans to purchase equipment, lease premises or take on staff.

When was the last time you reviewed your finance or looked at the options for accessing other routes to funding? Are your finance facilities still offering the best interest rates and repayment terms, or are there better deals out there?

Other finance options may be available to help you fund your continuing growth, so taking a look at the current finance market is well worth thinking about.

Refinance your existing loans

It’s possible that you already have business loans in place. Sourcing that initial capital is such an important part of the startup process, and a vital stepping stone in getting your business idea operational. When was the last time you reviewed these finance arrangements? Could you, in fact, be getting a better deal?

The finance market is always evolving. New challengers will enter the market, new specialist finance products will be introduced and interest rates and repayment schedules will fluctuate and change. You may well have got a great deal on the business loans you took out five years ago – but refinancing these existing loans is likely to have multiple benefits.

You could:

  • Consolidate your existing loans into one finance facility
  • Lower the interest rate you’re currently paying on the loan
  • Pay off your loan more quickly, to reduce the debt in the business
  • Improve your cashflow position by cutting your repayment expenses

The key point here is that your business finance shouldn’t sit still. A loan is not a static debt. You can revisit and refinance your debt so it works in the best interest of the business.

Look for alternative routes to finance

Traditionally, businesses went to their bank manager when additional funds were needed. But the dynamic in the funding market has changed dramatically in recent years. Due to economic pressures, and the impact of the pandemic, the big banks have scaled back their lending to small businesses. Your high street bank is no longer the first port of call when finance is needed.

On the flipside of this, there are a growing number of alternative lenders, smaller challenger banks and specialist finance providers to choose from. And this has created a wide choice of different finance products to fit the needs of your growth plan.

  • If you need new equipment, asset finance is available.
  • When you have a short-term cashflow crisis, invoice finance is a good option.
  • If larger premises are needed, there are commercial mortgages to consider or bridging loans to make the initial purchase while you source the full capital that’s needed..

Explore the tax deductions that are open to your business

Another element of government-back financial support is the use of tax relief. One of your major expenses as a business will be paying your tax. There are usually various tax deductions available to help you reduce your tax bill and reinvest that saved money back into your business. Careful use of these tax breaks can make a big difference to your finances.

For example, Australia has research and development (R&D) tax relief scheme. To encourage businesses to innovate and invest in R&D, the government will offer a relief against the company’s expenditure on operational R&D costs. This may result in getting an R&D Tax Offset for your company. May rules apply to this so check with us or have a look at https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Research-and-development-tax-incentive/

Another example is the Temporary Full Expensing of assets purcashed for business purposes. Temporary full expensing supports businesses and encourages investment, as eligible businesses can claim an immediate deduction for the business portion of the cost of an asset in the year it is first used or installed ready for use for a taxable purpose. More info on ATO website here

Choosing the right funding and finance will be vital to your long-term success as a business – so work closely with your advisers and think carefully about your choices.

We can recommend trusted finance brokers to assist with this process.

opengraph

Convert to Xero

Xero

Xero is an online accounting system that runs in your web browser on any internet enabled device. You can run your business accounting functions from your smartphone or tablet. Invoice, quote, track expenses without having to install any software.

We recommend Xero as it is tried and tested solution that suits almost all businesses big or small. We use it in our business.

Xero is the future of accounting. Get on board and change the way you do business.

Converting is simple!

•Optimize your current file – ensure debtors and contacts are up to date,
•have us review your file,
•pick a conversion date and we are ready to go.

Register your interest here and we will contact you to organise a needs analysis and a quote. Once we have your file it should take less than 4 days to have you fully operational in Xero.

Why convert?